The invention relates to methods and apparatuses for effectively sterilizing catheters.
Bacterial infection is a common problem stemming from long-term catheter use. The infection can start around the entry where a catheter is inserted or in the interior of a catheter. Bacterial infection poses serious clinical problems, sometimes leading to death.
To prevent this situation, it is desirable to sterilize the areas of infection, for instance, the point of entry and the interior of a catheter. One common method of sterilization is exposing bacteria to UV radiation. Previous methods of sterilizing a catheter involve incorporating a fiber optic cable, acting as a sterilization device, into the wall of the catheter to be sterilized.
While effective, these methods require an incorporation of a sterilization device into a catheter""s interior wall, which is difficult and will require permanent mounting of the device into the catheter. For instance, a catheter will need to be manufactured to include a fiber optic cable within the wall of the catheter before it is used. Thus, a fiber optic cable is permanently mounted within the wall of a catheter whether sterilization is necessary or not. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,260,020 and 5,695,482. The incorporation of a sterilization device into the wall of a catheter is thus costly and complex.
Another problem of the previous methods is that contamination can be introduced into the patient or the sample because a fiber optic cable would share the same path with fluids being injected into a patient or samples being extracted from a patient through a catheter use.
The present invention provides apparatuses and methods for effectively sterilizing a catheter and the point of entry of a catheter.
In one exemplary embodiment, an apparatus of the present invention includes a UV radiation source, a catheter having a lumen which is surrounded by the catheter""s wall, and a fiber optic cable that is coupled to that UV radiation source. The fiber optic cable is freely disposed within the catheter""s lumen and is capable of emitting UV radiation through the wall of a fiber optic cable and optionally, through the end of the fiber optic cable.
In another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus according to the present invention further includes an insertion tube having two separate paths, one path for a fluid source, and one path for a fiber optic cable. This insertion tube is connected to a catheter that needs sterilization. A fiber optic cable is inserted in a separate path from the path for fluid source. The fiber optic cable can be inserted when sterilization is needed and optionally, removed when completed without modification to existing catheter connections and components.
An exemplary method according to the present invention includes inserting a fiber optic cable through a lumen of a catheter, transmitting UV radiation through a fiber optic cable to effectively sterilize the infection area, and removing the fiber optic cable when sterilization is completed.
In another exemplary method, a fiber optic cable transmitting UV radiation is introduced into the catheter through one dedicated path of an insertion tube that has two separate paths. An intravenous fluid is introduced into the catheter through the remaining path of the two-path insertion tube.
The above features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale but the emphasis is being placed upon illustrating the principles of the present invention.